Using Technology-Enhanced Differentiated Instruction to Support Learning in Higher Education

Abstract

The expansion of access to higher education as well as global circulation of students spell greater diversity on campus and the need for more inclusive teaching practices. Responding to Stentiford and Koutsouris’s (2021) call for expanded conversations in inclusive pedagogies in higher education, this article explores the synergistic potential of technology with differentiated instruction—a learner-centered educational approach. Technology was adopted to collect information on students’ backgrounds and learning, enhance the learning environment, scaffold content outside the classroom, as well as diversify teaching processes and modalities, thus enhancing differentiated instruction practices. Students’ appreciation for these practices point to the potential of technology-enhanced differentiated instruction in attending to the diverse needs of learners and achieving greater inclusion of all learners in higher education classrooms. Simultaneously, students’ appreciation underscores how clear principles and reflective philosophies drive teaching and learning practices.